This Fox News reporter should not go to jail: Editorial

Fox News reporter Jana Winter is facing contempt charges for not revealing her sources in a case related to the Aurora shootings. Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Jana Winter is a journalist and Montclair native who might soon find herself behind bars in Colorado for a case related to the Aurora shootings last year.

And for the best of reasons: refusing to reveal her sources.

Her months-long court battle was expected to end Wednesday, when Winter could be called upon to testify, but the judge today granted a reprieve delaying that decision.

As this case nears its climax, journalists have rallied to her cause. Yet so far, much of their debate has focused not on Winter, a 1998 graduate of Montclair High School who attended Columbia's School of Journalism, but on her employer.

Why? Because it's Fox News. The network of Bill O'Reilly is grousing that competitors haven't covered Winter's case until now because of a liberal media bias. Maybe so. But at best, that's a sideshow debate. Winter is an on-the-ground news reporter, not some TV personality. This time it's Fox, but the next time, it'll be CNN. So let's put aside the professional rivalries, industry wonks, and focus on what really matters to the public: The dangerous precedent set by her case.

This is a textbook challenge to freedom of the press. It all started when Winter was sent to Aurora to report on the July 20 movie theater massacre by crazed gunman James Holmes. While she was there, sources in law enforcement -- whom she promised confidentiality -- told her that Holmes had sent a notebook to his psychiatrist, which was "full of details about how he was going to kill people."

Winter reported that scoop. Now, Holmes' defense attorneys want to know who may have violated the judge's gag orders. A line of law enforcement members were ordered to testify. All have so far denied telling Winter about the notebook. Ultimately, the only person left to ask may be Winter herself.

And that should mean there is no one left to ask. Because this is exactly why we have shield laws: to protect journalists from having to become an arm of law enforcement. It's not as though Winter's case presents any threat to national security. Jailing her could, however, put a chilling effect on whistleblowers everywhere.

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If a reporter can be compelled to reveal her sources, why should anyone ever trust her enough to share a whispered tip?

Plenty of reporters have gone to jail to protect sources. Just think of all the abuses that have come to light because of confidential tipsters: Watergate, Iran-Contra and Abu Ghraib, to name a few. Here in New Jersey, which has a broad shield law, we find ourselves debating whether a citizen blogger should qualify for protection, even though she isn't a professional journalist. Winter clearly is, so there shouldn't be any question.

Let's hope this judge comes to his senses in the final hour. Sending her to jail won't just be a loss for journalists everywhere, but for the public's right to know.